Electric heater



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

H JTY BR. ELECTRIC HEATER.

No. 573,629. Pat'enfed 1160. 22, 1896.

m Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheep 2, H. L. TYLER. ELECTRIC HEATBR..

No. 573,629. Patented Dec 22, 189 6.

fU/e 721 07 NITED STA ES PATENT, OFFICE.

HARRY L. TYLER, or conNnve, NEW roan.-

eu -zcrmo HEATER.

sr'ncrrrcArron forming m of Letters Eatent no. 573,629, dated Ipecember 22, 1896.

Application filed hugust 6,1896. Serial No. 601,914.

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be it known that I, HARRY L. TYLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Corning,

in the county of Steuben and State of New- York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Heaters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electric heaters, and is designed to render available the calorific effeet due to the passage of an electric current through a conductor of high resistance as means for the heating of cars and rooms or compartments generally.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation, partly in section and partly broken away, of an electric heater embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a corresponding top plan view, partly in section. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of my preferred form of high-resistance conductor prior to its incorporation in the apparatus. Fig. 4 represents an isometric view, the closure of one of the heating compartments being shown as disassembled from the compartment itself, so as the better to illustrate its relation thereto. Fig. 5 represents, on alarger scale,

' my preferred manner of forming a liquid and air proof joint between the metallicbot-tom of the closure and the glass wall of the tube which incases the conductor.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, ct indicates a sheet of metal, preferably copper, constituting the back wall of a series of compartments whose front wall is formed by bending into appropriate shape a second copper sheet 12. The bottom 0 of each of the compartments is soldered inplace, and the outer peripheral edges of the wall-plates a and Z) are soldered together. come stanch liquid-receptacles, although liquid communication exists between them through the interval existing between the ad- -jacent surfaces of those portions of the walls at intermediate of the compartments proper.

As the filling liquid for the compartments The compartments thereupon be-- (No model.)

I employ glycerin, which, while possessing a high capacity for the absorption and transfear 'of producing such internal pressure as would endanger the integrity of the receptacle itself. These qualities render the glyc erin especially appropriate for the purposes of the invention, inasmuch as the containing vessel or receptacle may be substantially filled with the liquid, thereby notonly utilizing its full capacity, but also increasing the radiating-surface by reason of the fact that all of the parts of the receptacle are brought into actual contact with the liquid.

In my early experiments I observedthe fact that glycerin was of such high resistance at ordinary temperatures as to prevent electrolysis, and I was led to believe from this fact that it would be feasible to employ bare or naked conductors for the transmission of the heating-current, said conductors being immersed directly in the glycerin. I have ascertained, however, that when glycerin or any hydrocarbon is raised to a higher temperature, and especially to the temperature incident to the passage of the electric current as em ployed in the practice of my invention, its electrical resistance is greatly lowered, in consequence whereof the receptacle becomes virtually a battery-cell wherein cross-curren ts are set up within the liquid, with the result that the metal of the conductor is deposited electrolytically upon the inner walls of the compartments or from one portion of the conductor upon another portion. In either case the integrity of the conductor is soon destroyed and the apparatus becomes useless. To avoid this difficulty, I insert the conductor within a glass tube of such small cross-sectional area as to inclose within itself a body of glycerin which will oifer so much resistance to the passage of the current that it will be unable to bridge over from one point of the conductor to another throughthe liquid and set up electrolytic action destructive to the conductor. The interposition of the glass tube, moreover,

1 between the naked conductor within it and the outer body of glycerinin the main body srzz oeo ol. the compartment entirclyculs off any pos l sible electrolytic action between the conduel tor and the inner walls of the.compartment, while at the same time the heat is freely transmitted from the conductor to the body of glycerin within the tube and thence through the tube-walls to the glycerin within the main bodyportion of the compartment and thence to the raditiling-surfaces. In actual practice 1 have found that an apparatus constructed after this plan maintains its efficiency after long-continued use. I I

"I may employ as the conductor a ny suitable solid material of sul'licient resistance, such as graphite or the like. 'l prefer, however, to employ a metallic wire or filament, and for this purpose 1 have found it convenient to make use of a German-silver wire of, say, No. 230 gage in those instances where the incasing tubes are glass one-quarter of an inch in diameter, andgvhere the individual con'ipartments are eight and one-quarter inches in height, iire-eighths of an inch in width, and three inches in breadth, although it will be understood that these particular dimensions are not of the essence of the invention, but 1 illustrate merely its application to a particular use.- In imparting a suitable form to the Gcrmamsilver wire I first wind. it in tight spirals about a forniing-mainlrcl of about the size of an ordinary knitting-needle, but leaving the end portions in their original straight condition. lthereupon pull. the conrolut-ions apart, as indicated in Fig. 3, so as to make a looser coil, and at the points (Z (I otsaid figure l straighten out certain of the convolutions to correspond to the location of the bends of the glass tube, as indicated in Fig. 1. Each endot the Gern'ian-silver wire is thereupon twisted upon itself, as indicated atf, and at the bend of this returning twist is soldered a platinum wire which may be of No. Q-l gage, and which is preferably provided with a glass head 6, whose function is to assist the subsequent operation of sealing the ,platinum wires in the ends of the glass tube, The conductoras thus constructed then placed within a straight glass tube, which is thereupon heated at the appropriate place andbent into Ll shape, as shown in the drawings. The tube thereupon receives a filling; of glycerin, as shown, and its ends are sealed upon the platt num wire by. the aid of the blowpipe, the glass beads upon the platinum wires beconr ing amalgamated with the fused ends orthe glass tubes, and a small portion of the plati' num wire projects from the said fused ends, as indicatedmore clearly in Fig. 5.

it do not completely lill the tubes with glycerin, for mechanical reasons only.' if the tube is iilled within less than an inch or so of the ends to be i'uscdtogether, the heat ccmducled through the glass to the glycerin while the glass is fusing, the glycerin is raised above its boiling-point, and the steam therefrom tends to blow the glass into a bulb, which is not wanted and which would brealr l to let the steam escape. .lherelore it is not easy to use the glass with such outward pressure exerting against it. Ho to prevent this difficulty in fusing the ends oi the tube 1 leave the liquid far enough below the ends to prevent its reaching a boiling-point while fusing the glass.

lhe top of each compartment is sealed by a metallic cover consisting of a shallow mctallic vessel 7t, preferably of copper. The bottom of this vessel is prorided with suitable orilices for the passage olf the ends ot the tube u, and in order to provide an air and liquid tight joint between the tube ends and the saidbottom ll first coil about the tube end. a few convolutionso'l platinum wire on and use them to the oulcr surlaco ol' the glass. 1 then solder the platinum-- wire-convolutions to the metal surrounding the openings through which they pass, thereby forming a substantial joint between the glass-tube ends and the bottom of the shallowcovcr 72.. in most instances this joint may be relied upon as sutllcienl, but as a further precaution and to prolcet the ends of the glass tubes from injury 1 preferably fill the shallow cover with plaslcr-of-paris or similar composition which sets when cold. Electrical connections are then established between the platinui'n leading-in wires by means of copper wire a of, so l lo. E30 gn soldered to the proximate ends of the num wires, as indicated. in the drawii i For car-heating, where the commercial livehundredrolt current is employed, ll preter ably employ enough German-silver rrire to give a resistance ot' about eight olnns 11]. each cmnpartmeut, and l 'n'cil'erably construct the heater with fifteen compartments connected in series and employ two heaters on each side ofthe car, extending practi "ally the entire length thereof. This arramremcnt insures the distribution of the hen. along the entireleugth of the car, her than its localization at widclysclmi-atci intorrah-i. Moreover, as thc'radiation is substantially uniform at every point of the heater the sale rilic effect evenly distributed to the uniform coinfort'and co'nveuiei'icc of the passengers. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. An electric heater, comprising an elcctric conductor, an insulating'inclosuro wi thin which the conductor is contained, a body oi practically non conducting liquid within the inclosuro, and an outer heat-radiating body; substantially as described.

- ltn cl. trio heater, compri u trio conductor, aninsula-ting-n l "'unewithin "which the conductor is cont". a body of practically non expansive non cond noting material within said iuclosuro, and an outer receptacle containing; hcat-trausmitting material and having" heat-riuliatingr walls; substantially as described.

.iliu electric heater, coinprisin an clou trio conductor, an insulatinginclosure.thcl'cw to which the conductor is contained, a body of practically non-expansive liquid within said inelosure, and an outer receptacle containing a body of practically non-expansive liquid and having heat-radiating wallsyis ubstantially as described. V 6. An electric heater, comprising an electric conductor, an insulating-inelosure therefor containing glycerimand an outer receptacle containing glycerin and having heatradiating walls; substantially as described.

7 An electric heater, comprising an elec-- tric conductor, an inclosure therefor con-- taining abody'of glycerin of such small crossscctional area as to prevent electrolysis from one part of the conductor to another, and an outer receptacle containing glycerin and having heat-radiatin g Walls 5 substantially as described.

S. An electric heater, comprising an electric conductor consisting of a spiral wire, a tube containing glycerin and of diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the coils of the spiral, and an outer receptacle consraeae s taining glycerin and having heat-radiating .wall sq substantially as described.

9. ian electric heater, an inclosure containii ga body ofpractically non-conducting liquid, and an electric conductor within said liquid, the cross-sectional area of the liquid being such as to prevent electrolysis between different portions ofthe conductor; substan tially as described. I

10. In an electric heater, a tube containing glycerin, and an electric conductor within said glycerin, the tube being. bent in U form and having sealed ends and'leadingin wires;

substantially as described.

11. In an electric heater, an outer receptacle, a tube containing a liquid and an electric conductor, anda top or cover for the outer receptacle and from which the tube depends; said cover consisting of ashallow receptacle above whose bottom the tube ends project and containing a plaster-of-paris setting; substantially as described.

' 12. An electric heater, comprising a series of compartments, whose front wall consists of a sheet of metal bent to form saidl compartments, and whose rear Wall is common to all the compartments, in combination with electric conductors entering the several compartments and in electric connection with each other; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- HARRY L. TYLER. Witnesses WM. F. MCNAMARA, FRANK H. FERRIS. 

